Are there medical conditions or procedures that cause urinary incontinence for men?

Dr. Gaker discusses medical conditions or procedures that cause urinary incontinence in men. Click play to watch the video or read the transcript.

Are there medical conditions or procedures that cause urinary incontinence for men?

There's both medical conditions such as disorders of the brain or metabolic disorders like diabetes that can lead to incontinence, as well as disorders of the prostate.

Diabetes, if it's untreated or poorly managed, causes nerve damage and that can affect things such as your feet or your hands and it can also affect your organs. One of the first organs to be affected is the bladder and it gets weak. Progressively the bladder gets weaker and weaker and you can get a type of incontinence that's called overflow incontinence where the bladder is not able to overcome the resistance from the squeezing prostate.

There are some medical conditions that can cause urinary incontinence in men, including diabetes and an enlarged prostate, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Researchers suspect that microvascular damage caused by diabetes is what leads to urinary incontinence for some people, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Also in men, some kinds of prostate surgery and other surgeries in the pelvis can cause urinary incontinence, according to the NIH.

In addition, other conditions and life events that can cause urinary incontinence in men, according to the NIH, include:

Age – Bladder muscles can get weaker as men age. This leads to decreased bladder capacity to store urine.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) – With this condition, the prostate becomes enlarged but is not cancerous. The enlarged prostate can press against and pinch the urethra. This can eventually lead to incomplete bladder emptying and urinary incontinence.

Chronic coughing – An ongoing cough can increase pressure on the bladder and the pelvic floor muscles.

Obesity – Excess weight puts pressure on the bladder, which increases the need to urinate even when the bladder is not yet full.

Physical inactivity – Decreased activity can increase a body weight, which can lead to muscle weakness.

For more about conditions and procedures that can increase a man’s risk of urinary incontinence, talk with your doctor.

How is urinary incontinence treated in men?

Dr. Gaker discusses treatment for urinary incontinence in men. Click play to watch the video or read the transcript.

How is urinary incontinence treated in men?

Incontinence in men is treating according to its cause and it's a great time for men today with our minimally invasive techniques or advanced medicines they can help those that are caused by medical conditions.

As long as patients are willing to work with their physician, there's some exciting treatments that can completely change a patient's life.

In this last five years or so, we've gone from using medicine that we used in the 1950s that causes cotton mouth and blurry vision and balance problems and constipation to medicines that avoid all those complications if we can ever get them improved through the insurance, or this minimally invasive surgical procedure of placing a bladder pacemaker. It's just a great new era for people, both men and women, for managing incontinence.

The way urinary incontinence in men is treated depends on the type of urinary incontinence the man is affected by, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The first steps health care providers typically recommend, according to the NIH, include:

Behavioral changes

Bladder training

Lifestyle changes

Pelvic floor exercises

Urgency suppression

If these steps are tried and don’t work, your physician might recommend some of the following options to treat your urinary incontinence, according to the NIH:

Bulking agents

Electrical nerve stimulation

Medications

Surgery

For more information about treating urinary incontinence in men, talk with your physician.

Can urinary incontinence be a symptom of an underlying health issue in men?

Dr. Gaker discusses urinary incontinence as a symptom of an underlying health in men. Click play to watch the video or read the transcript.

Can urinary incontinence be a symptom of an underlying health issue in men?

If a man is actually leaking his urine, he ought to seek help from a urologist to decide what the underlying cause is. Sometimes it can be a serious problem.

By the time a man starts leaking his urine, he should seek the help of a urologist. In younger men, you're more concerned with neurologic disorders, such as multiple sclerosis or neurologic problems from back disorders. In older men, it's usually related to either a failure of the bladder or a problem with their prostate from either simple enlargement or even prostate cancer, and that's why men need to get checked for this symptom.

The way urinary incontinence in men is treated depends on the type of urinary incontinence the man is affected by, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Urinary incontinence is a symptom of a number of health issues, and Premier Physician Network’s (PPN) physicians recommend visiting a urologist to find a cause if you start leaking urine.

What puts you at a higher risk for developing a urinary tract infection?

Women are at higher risk of developing a urinary tract infection (UTI) than men, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). This is because women have a shorter urethra, making it easier for bacteria to reach the bladder.

Sexual intercourse can also cause a UTI, especially in women, because bacteria can easily be pushed into the urethra.

The risk of UTIs also increases in women who use a diaphragm, because the diaphragm makes it harder for the bladder to empty, which makes it more likely for bacteria to cause infections.

Talk to your doctor for more information about who is at higher risk for developing a urinary tract infection.

For more information about symptoms of a urinary tract infection, talk with your doctor.

Additional Resources

This website provides general medical information that should be used for informative and educational purposes only. Information found here should not be used as a substitute for the personal, professional medical advice of your physician. Do not begin any course of treatment without consulting a physician.